Hero For a Day
by Oxymoronic Alliteration
Summary: Just when Tim thinks no one appreciates him, a small act changes his entire perspective.


It had not been the best of days for Tim. Actually, it hadn't been the best of _weeks_ for Tim. The young computer geek was beginning to feel unappreciated by his NCIS co-workers. From disparaging name-calling to unwarranted head slaps, his mood had been on a downhill slide, going from okay to bad to worse to horrible.

Every day had become something of a routine. He would arrive, usually earlier than the others. He relished those moments alone in the office, able to enjoy the NCIS atmosphere without the teasing and tormenting. Then the others would trickle in, taking their own places. Gibbs was usually the last to arrive, giving Tony ample time to pelt Tim with his bottomless desk drawer of balled-up paper. Ziva would roll her eyes at the senior agent's sophomoric behavior, but wouldn't intervene.

A call would come in. The team would go. Well, sometimes the entire team would go; other times, Tim was left behind to do his "computer stuff," as Gibbs referred to it. Tim both relished and annoyed being left behind. On the one hand, it gave him a moment of peace; on the other hand, it was a blow to his ego that his status as field agent had been down-sized to desk agent.

Orders poured in the moment they got back. Check the computer files. Trace the cell phone. Look at the phone records. Pull the security footage. Hack this, hack that, hack them! Tim, without complaint, dove into his work, though he knew there could only be two possible outcomes. If he succeeded in his task, he would receive little to no comment or thanks; if he failed, he would receive a tongue-lashing coupled with a slap to the back of the head. There was rarely a middle ground.

As Tim walked along the sidewalk – his car was in the shop, so he was confined to the bus schedule – he considered what his job had become, especially compared to what he'd hoped it would be. When he had made the choice to go into law enforcement, Tim had envisioned it having a bit more glory to it. No, he didn't imagine beautiful women fawning over him or the President pinning him with any sort of Medal of Honor, but he'd hoped that his would be revered with more respect than that he was usually given.

Just once, he'd like to have someone consider him a hero.

As he rounded the corner, Tim became aware of the sound of muffled sobs. A quick look found the source to be a young girl who was about eight-years-old. The little blonde girl was standing before a large tree, hugging her arms around her body, with tears streaming down her face. She ran the back of her hand across her nose, leaving a film of snot and tears.

Tim carefully approached the crying child, not wanting to startle her. He gently knelt down. "Are you okay?"

She looked at him and sniffled. "Pumpkin is in the tree!" she lamented, pointing up to the top of the tree. Tim looked up and could make out an orange furball among the leaves. "He won't come down!"

"Where are your parents?" he asked.

"They went to the store. My sister's baby-sitting, but she won't get him down!" the girl bawled. "I want Pumpkin!"

"It's okay," Tim said soothingly. "I'll get Pumpkin."

He stood and walked to the base of the tree. The feline was situated atop what appeared to be a work-in-progress tree house. It was located on one of the lower branches, but Tim knew it would still take a bit of climbing to reach him. Carefully, Tim stepped onto one of bottom branches and pulled himself up the side of the tree. He grabbed at another branch and slowly made his way up until he found himself face to face with a blasé looking kitten.

"Mrow," Pumpkin mewed softly.

"Hey, Pumpkin," Tim said. "Come on, kitty." He reached his free hand forward and placed a firm grasp on the kitten's body. He gently began pulling the creature toward him. Pumpkin showed no resistance. "Good kitty."

"Mrow."

Tim extracted the kitten from the tree branch and held him securely against his body as he made the trek back down to earth. The feline nuzzled against his chest, softly purring in Tim's arms.

When he reached the bottom, he handed the kitten off to the little girl. She took Pumpkin with glee and squeezed him against her body in an airtight hug. Pumpkin only gave a pitiful meow as he rested his head against her.

Seeing that his work here was done, Tim turned to go. He soon found that his leg was trapped, two small arms wrapped around it, keeping him from going.

"Thank you!" the little girl exclaimed as she hugged at his leg. "Thank you so, so, so much! You're my biggest hero ever!" she gushed. "Thank you!"

Tim was stunned by the overwhelming display of thanks. "You're welcome," he said as he gently tried to disentangle the child from his leg. "Just try and keep a better eye on Pumpkin in the future."

He left the girl and her kitten to their tearful and happy reunion. As he walked away, though, he found that there was a bit more jump in his step and a much bigger smile on his face.

It was nice to be a hero.


End file.
